Atlantic Yards

Forest City Enterprises and Greenland Holdings Group, a Chinese state-owned developer, have completed an agreement for a joint-venture to develop Atlantic Yards, the companies announced today.

The two parties had previously announced a preliminary deal in October under which Greenland would acquire a 70-percent stake in the Atlantic Yards project from Forest City. Expected to close in 2014, the joint venture includes phases one and two of the project, excluding the Barclays Center and the B2 modular housing tower.

Empire State Development, the state agency overseeing the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, has agreed to pay $300,000 in fees to lawyers representing two community coalitions that won a lingering lawsuit over the project’s timetable.

The lawyers successfully challenged the agency’s decision, in 2009, to extend the potential build-out of the project to 25 years, while only studying the impact of a five-year delay on a project long billed as taking 10 years.
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Apparently, $761 million in subsidies and tax breaks isn’t enough for Forest City Ratner. The Atlantic Yards developer is thanking the city for its generosity by suing the Department of Finance for a lower tax assessment.

Chinese state-owned property developer Greenland Holdings Group signed a preliminary deal to buy a majority stake in Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards, under which the Shanghai-based investor would take a 70 percent stake from Forest City Ratner Companies.

Under the proposal, Greenland would co-developing the residential portion of the complex and sharing its costs going forward, while FCRC Read More

By most measures, the Barclays Center had a very good year since opening with eight Jay-Z concerts a year ago this Saturday, including hosting MTV’s Video Music Awards last month. As the statistics show, its success as a concert venue was significant, even if audience attendance was bolstered in some part by ongoing renovations at Madison Square Garden.

While some scheduled events never came to fruition, the total number of events lagged behind several estimates, and the start-up costs were a drag on profits, the Barclays Center will get a big bump during the 2015-2016 season when the New York Islanders move in.

Norman Oder of the Atlantic Yards Report gathered and crunched the numbers for The Commercial Observer to assess the promises, projections and realities.

To some, it seemed like a good idea, an effort to take responsibility for the effects of Brooklyn’s biggest audience magnet. To others, it looked like overreach.

Now, plans for a business improvement district (BID) for a zone around the Barclays Center, the Atlantic Center and Atlantic Terminal malls, and Brooklyn Academy of Music cultural district have been aborted without public discussion.
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Yesterday, Forest City Ratner developer Bruce Ratner escorted Commercial Observer staff writer Daniel Geiger and photographer Kiki Conway on a tour of the Atlantic Yards arena. While Mr. Ratner was evasive when faced with specific questions about the project and construction timeline, the pictures are revealing. Indeed, with arena seating now underway, and Read More